Visualization and Legislation: Clearly Seeing the Impact of Title IX within Educatio

The 1960's and early 1970's was a time of protest and the emergence of a common voice bringing the gender pay gap to the attention of lawmakers around the world. The United States Congress participated in these debates and concluded that the best way to reduce the gender pay gap was to eliminate discrimination in the educational system and passed the Education Amendments of 1972. The intent of Title IX, of the amendments, was to create an environment where gender was not an obstacle to accessing education which in turn was believed to lead to gender-neutral career choice. The law was passed, enforced and followed by periodic guidance and amendments based on the outcome of several landmark court decisions. Still many in our country question the impact of this law and want to know if it did work, is it still working, and if it can be improved.;An effective way to explore these questions is through the use of visualization techniques and methods designed specifically to facilitate quick interpretation of the data at various levels of detail and help identify fields of study that can, with the right resources and the application of adjustments, make the most impact in moving society towards gender-neutral career choice. Lawmakers and administrators will quickly understand that a review of the big picture created by aggregated metrics produces a very different interpretation than those formed after reviewing the details. In addition, they can discover that by focusing on selected fields of study they may be able to accelerate their impact and bring the United States educational system closer to the gender-neutral intent of the proponents of Title IX.;A visual system consisting of key events overlaid on a timeline of strategically selected statistical reporting techniques will provide additional insight into lags that may naturally occur due to the time needed for the implementation of new actions. The shifting trends within an expected time frame can provide reassurance that a particular law, amendment, judicial decision or guidance had an impact on the inclusion of students within the educational system. In addition, key visualization techniques designed to move the evaluator from macro-level metrics to micro-level metrics confirms harmony between these levels or helps identify points of discord. The micro-level metrics can also be used to guide the selection of targeted fields of study to receive additional attention with the goal to provide the greatest impact or acceleration towards gender-neutral education.;The use of these visual techniques reaffirms the accurate selection of targeted fields of study by removing arbitrary or anecdotal selection influences. The feedback loop created by the annual reporting of degrees conferred statistics and occasional adjustment of resources and guidance can continue to inform lawmakers and administrators of the systemic reaction to their actions. When harmony occurs between macro- and micro-level metrics, leaders can be assured that their actions were effective at all levels of aggregation and the true intent inspiring their actions have been achieved.;In addition to providing insights for a single aspect of education, such as degrees conferred, the same set of visualizations can be used throughout the cycle and measure admissions, degrees conferred as well as career choice and persistence. The tools lend themselves to the exposure of information from one level to another regardless of the overall subject area under review. This versatility leads to an ecosystem of cross-comparison as well as in-depth analysis.